Most room humidifiers now on the market are electrically powered and must be plugged into a wall socket to operate. These electrically powered humidifiers have electrical motors therein which may emit an unpleasant noise. Also, many prior art humidifiers tend to be cumbersome since they are constructed to stand on the floor and may interfere with normal human activity in the room.
Humidifiers that do not require electricity to operate are known. However, these humidifiers are usually designed to be used with one type of heating system (usually radiators) and are not very versatile. Moreover, these humidifiers involve an evaporative element that is constantly in contact with the water supply. These prior humidifiers generally comprise a container of water with a very absorbent material projecting both below and above the surface of the water, so that the water in the container container will rise by capilliary action along the absorbent material. These devices are usually placed on or next to a heat source. Because the container is usually between the heat source and the absorbent material, these humidifiers are not very effective or efficient.
Thus, it is apparent that there exists a need for a non-electrically powered humidifier which is easily adaptable to be used with many types of heating systems and which is highly efficient.
This invention fulfills this need and many other needs apparent to the skilled artisan in the relevant art once given the following disclosure: